#self-portrait with death playing the fiddle by arnold bocklin

[diioonysus]

memento mori

[artschoolglasses]

Self-Portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle, Arnold Bocklin, 1872

[kayfacedraws]

ruler of my heart 🌕

alt versions:

[acthemanhere]

Arnold Bocklin ( 1827-1901 ) Self Portrait with Death Playing Fiddle

[taylorswiftarthistories]

Self-Portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle by Arnold Böcklin, 1872 / "The Lucky One" by Taylor Swift

[fancy-feast-official]

ca study i did of arnold böcklin's self portrait with death playing the fiddle. reference image below the cut :-)

[goghvanwillemvincent]

Self-Portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle (1872) by Arnold Böcklin (1827-1901)

[aarghhaaaarrrghhh]

Jacques-Émile Blanche, Self-Portrait with Raphael de Ochoa, 1890 || Arnold Böcklin, Self-Portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle, 1872

I found the Blanche painting while on a wikipedia rabbit hole that begun with reading about John Singer Sargant and immediately thought of the Bocklin one, a very stylish red-tinted version of which is the cover art for my Russian-French copy of The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Tolstoy.

My interest here is also totally and respectfully intellectual and is not at all in part motivated two hot, seemingly conflicted painter dudes: haunted, but inquisitive, and ultimately yielding and submissive to the figure behind them, hand on shoulder and whisper in ear 👁😳👁

[k626lacrimosa]

Self-portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle, 1872. Artist: Bocklin, Arnold (1827-1901)

[zalein]

Self Portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle, by Arnold Bocklin

[lullsinelocution]

Credits -

Row one - left to right

Polski: Ukojenie (Widma w pracowni; Smierc) by Piotr Stachiewicz

The Little Seamstress by John Faed

Saint Jerome in His Study by Caravaggio (detail)

Row two

Changeable Weather by Gustave Leonard de Jonghe

Self-portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle by Arnold Bocklin

Au Piano by Renata Borgatti

Row three

Vision of Saint Francis of Assisi by Jusepe de Ribera (detail)

Maria Safonoff by Irving Ramsey Wiles

Absorbed in his Studies by Eilif Peterssen (detail)

the mourning doesn’t break with art but starts to thaw in its tender warmth

part of a series

[1five1two]

'Self Portrait with Death playing the Fiddle'. Arnold Bocklin. 1872.

[katieshelleybcu-blog]

Contextual Studies 12/03/19

Death and Impermanence in Art and Design

In tragedy, humour is of great importance

What happens after we die?

“Lots of things happen after you die, they just don’t involve you”- Louis.C.K

This concept has been seen in films:

Blade Runner, by Ridley Scott- shows a cyborg having the ability to reflect on life and show existential depths

Donnie Darko, by Richard Kelley- “every living creature on earth dies alone”- Roberta Sparrow

It is also explored in art, often with the use of symbolism:

Vita Somnium Breve (Life is a Short Dream), by Arnold Bocklin- the symbolism coming from many parts of the painting, such as the children ripping up flowers (a symbol of life) and floating them down the river

Self Portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle, by Arnold Bocklin

Die Toteninsel (Isle of the Dead), by Arnold Bocklin (below). This painting has a mysterious unknown middle area with someone rowing another person dressed in white robes into this middle area, which to me,  is symbolic of a funeral, and not knowing what happens to a person after they pass away.

The Garden of Death, by Hugo Simberg, showing skeletons planting flowers (a symbol of life) with care and sensitivity

It is also seen in religious art:

Macabre- having the quality of being ghastly or grim atmosphere, and works to emphasize the details and symbols of death.

Totentanz (Dance of Death), paintings created in the late Middle Ages to show that death will affect everyone, no matter who they are

Sedlec Ossuary Bone Church in Kutna Hora, Czech Republic

Japanese Zen Buddhism, contemplation of decomposition of the corpse, practised to help keep chastity

Photography:

Memento Mori, done in the Victorian times, was the practise of photographing dead people. It was often dead children with their parents, as many died before reaching adulthood

The Living Dead, by Marco Lanza, inside the Palermo Crypt

Piss Christ, by Andres Serrano, a critique of extreme Christians in the USA who wanted to stop funding art that was not in line with their beliefs. It was done by filling a jar with a crucifix in, with wee

The Morgue, by Andres Seranno. Most images are titled by the cause of death, such as Killed By Four Danes

What Remains, by Sally Mann. These photos show humans at various stages of decay. She took the photos on a body farm for crimonological observations.

I found this lecture very interesting as it talks about a sensitive subject, which is often avoided. I particularly like the symbolic paintings as they can be interpreted in many ways, and the subject of Macabre art. 

I went on to look at more of Andres Serrano’s work and can see why he has the reputation of being controversial. The series The Morgue does get fairly gruesome, as some causes of death include burning and violence, however the photos are interesting observations of the human body and one can see the intricate patterns of the body, such as veins. Another series titled Torture, includes photos of real torture equipment, re-enactments of torture, and places of torture, such as Auschwitz. Most interestingly, are four portraits of the Hooded Men- who were victims of torture during IRA interrogations. This was striking as these men who suffered extreme torture, whilst hooded, agreed to put the hoods back on, which must have been a very difficult thing for them to do. 

[meaniebones-blog]

Self-Portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle, 1872, Arnold Bocklin

[darkhawk1126]

Mine would have Death and I making rabbit ears behind each other. 🤪

Self-Portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle (1872) by Arnold Böcklin (1827-1901)